Grace Rubaale, the Senior Hospital Administrator says that the oxygen plant will be produce 15 cubic metres of oxygen per hour. She says that starting next month; the plant will be able to expand oxygen supply to hospitals and health centre IVs in the districts of Bundibugyo, Ntoroko, Kyegegwa Kamwenge and Kyenjojo.
Fort Portal Regional Referral Hospital now has a fully-fledged medical oxygen plant. The plant, whose construction was funded by the central government, is equipped with gas cylinders and pipes which will transfer oxygen to different wards in the hospital.
The Ministry of Finance disbursed up to 550 million Shillings in 2015 to facilitate construction of the plant in order to ease pressure on Mulago National Referral Hospital. The works which were supposed to end last year had stalled due to delays in the procurement process.
Grace Rubaale, the Senior Hospital Administrator, explains that the facility has been facing challenges to inadequate amounts of oxygen from the National Medical Stores. She adds that they would turn to Mbarara and Mulago Hospitals during shortage of oxygen at the referral hospital.
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According to Rubaale, the oxygen plant will be produce 15 cubic metres of oxygen per hour. She says that starting next month; the plant will be able to expand oxygen supply to hospitals and health centre IVs in the districts of Bundibugyo, Ntoroko, Kyegegwa Kamwenge and Kyenjojo.
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In 2015, the Ministry of Health earmarked 14 billion Shillings for construction of oxygen plants in major referral hospitals across the country. The ministry argued that by having oxygen plants, hospitals will help reduce the financial cost they meet while procuring oxygen since they will be manufacturing their own.
In 2014, the Parliamentary Committee on Health after a visit to Turkey proposed to the government to replicate the oxygen manufacturing systems in the country with the hope of meeting the oxygen demand by patients in government and private hospitals.
Oxygen is used as medical treatment in both chronic and acute cases in which patients require additional oxygen to breathe.
According to a World Health Organization report-WHO, oxygen reduces death by 35 per cent in children.
